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    PolarDB:Billing methods

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    PolarDB:Billing methods

    Last Updated:Jan 17, 2026

    PolarDB offers three billing methods: subscription, pay-as-you-go, and serverless. These methods are designed to meet your needs in different scenarios.

    Scenarios

    Billing method

    Scenario

    Subscription

    • Predictable resource usage duration.

    • Heavy workloads that have infrequent and small fluctuations.

    Pay-as-you-go

    • Unpredictable resource usage duration.

    • Temporary, sudden, and unpredictable workloads.

    • Light workloads that have infrequent and small fluctuations.

    Serverless

    • Individual developers.

    • Limited use of databases in scenarios such as development and staging environments.

    • Inconsistent and unpredictable workloads in scenarios such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and edge computing.

    • Fluctuating and unpredictable workloads or business scenarios.

    Comparison analysis

    Category

    Subscription

    Pay-as-you-go

    Serverless

    Payment type

    Subscription (upfront)

    Note

    Some billable items support only the pay-as-you-go billing method. For more information, see Billable items.

    Pay-as-you-go (post-paid)

    Pay-as-you-go (post-paid)

    Compute node resource type

    Defined specifications

    Defined specifications

    Dynamic resources

    Billing cycle

    Billed based on the Duration that you select.

    Charged per second and billed on an hourly basis.

    Charged per second and billed on an hourly basis.

    Switching of the billing method

    Can be switched to the pay-as-you-go (post-paid) billing method.

    Note

    The transform rules vary based on the Edition. For more information, see Switch billing methods.

    Can be switched to the subscription (upfront) billing method.

    Note

    The transform rules vary based on the Edition. For more information, see Switch billing methods.

    Not supported

    Change configurations

    When you change the configuration of a cluster, the system calculates the fees based on the cluster's billing method and the changes. For more information, see Change configurations.

    Billing method

    Billing details

    Subscription

    When you change the configuration, the system calculates fees based on the changes.

    • If you upgrade or add nodes, the system calculates the additional fees.

    • If you downgrade or delete nodes, the system calculates the refund.

    Pay-as-you-go

    After you change the configuration, you are charged hourly based on the price of the new configuration.

    Serverless

    Configuration changes are not supported. Compute node resources are automatically adjusted based on the service payload.

    Expiration or overdue payments

    Service interruptions may occur if a cluster subscription expires or a payment is overdue. The system sends a notification for these events. To prevent service interruptions, you must immediately add funds to your Alibaba Cloud account or renew the cluster. For more information, see Expiration and overdue payments.

    Bills

    The commodity codes for each billing type are as follows:

    • Subscription: polardb_sub_intl

    • Pay-as-you-go: polardb_payg_intl

    • Serverless: polardb_serverless_public_intl

    For more information about how to view bills, see Bills.

    FAQ

    Why do I still receive bills after I purchase a subscription cluster?

    This may be because of one of the following reasons:

    These items are billed on a pay-as-you-go basis. The fees are calculated based on your actual storage usage and retention period. You can view the details on the Bills page.

    Why do I still receive bills after I release or unsubscribe from my cluster?

    If you still receive bills after you release or unsubscribe from a PolarDB cluster, it may be for one of the following reasons:

    • The PolarDB cluster has pay-as-you-go items, and the bills for these items are delayed. Therefore, you may still receive bills after you release or unsubscribe from the PolarDB cluster.

      • A subscription cluster can include pay-as-you-go billable items. For example, if the Storage Payment Method is set to Pay-as-you-go, the bills for storage are delayed.

      • The bills for pay-as-you-go clusters are delayed.

        Note

        You can view the pay-as-you-go bills for your cluster in the PolarDB console. For more information, see Bills.

    • If your backup policy is set to When the cluster is released, the cluster data is automatically backed up, and the latest backup set is retained for a long period of time., you will incur backup storage costs when you release a PolarDB cluster. You can delete these backup sets from the cluster recycle bin to avoid these costs. For more information, see Permanently delete a released cluster.

    How is a serverless cluster billed?

    A serverless cluster is billed per second based on the average number of PolarDB Capacity Units (PCUs) that are used. For more information, see Billing rules for serverless compute nodes.

    How do I migrate a non-serverless cluster (subscription or pay-as-you-go) to a serverless cluster?

    You can migrate a non-serverless cluster to a serverless cluster using Data Transmission Service (DTS). For more information, see Migrate data between PolarDB for MySQL clusters.

    Can I upgrade a non-serverless cluster (subscription or pay-as-you-go) to a serverless cluster?

    You can enable the serverless feature on a non-serverless cluster (subscription or pay-as-you-go). For more information, see Serverless feature for clusters with defined specifications.